Are You Actually Making Progress? How I Rewired My Weekly Reflection to Drive Real Impact
Why I Had to Rethink How I Measure Progress
One of the hardest things about leadership isn‘t the work itself — it‘s knowing if your work is actually moving the needle.
I‘ve been in this role long enough to know that activity doesn‘t equal impact. Meetings, decisions, escalations, reviews — it‘s easy to feel like you‘re constantly in motion. But the real question is: Are we actually making progress?
A few months ago, I took a step back and realized my weekly reflection process wasn‘t giving me the clarity I needed. Was I pushing hard enough on execution? Raising the bar on quality? Was my team stepping up? Was I making space for the thinking and decisions only I can do?
I needed a better way to measure my own leadership impact — not just whether we were delivering, but whether we were delivering the right things, at the right quality, in a way that scales. So I refined my Weekly Reflections, a simple but powerful set of questions that help me assess where we‘re winning, where we‘re stuck, and where I need to adjust.
If you‘re leading at a high level and want to ensure you‘re not just keeping up but driving real impact every week, this might also be useful for you.
Why I Just Updated My Weekly Wrap Framework
I‘ve always been disciplined about reflection, but the nature of my role has evolved. I‘m leading a full-scale transformation, turning design into a competitive advantage. That requires balancing hands-on execution with scaling leadership, pushing quality while empowering my team, and ensuring design shapes business outcomes.
What I needed was a weekly gut check that forced clarity on a few critical areas:
Are we making real progress toward the goals that matter?
Is the work meeting the bar of quality and differentiation we‘re setting?
Am I using my time where it‘s most valuable?
Is my team stepping up and growing into the leaders we need?
Am I protecting time for deep work and strategic thinking?
Am I ensuring design is shaping business strategy — not just reacting to it?
I cut out the fluff and built a six-question framework that helps me recalibrate every week.
The Weekly Wrap: My 6-Question Reflection Framework
1. Are we making measurable progress toward our highest-priority outcomes?
What tangible progress did we make this week that moves us closer to our goals?
What stalled, and what needs to be realigned or unblocked?
Are we focused on the right priorities, or do we need to adjust?
Why this matters: Execution is noisy. This ensures I‘m stepping back to see whether all the effort translates into impact.
2. Are we elevating craft, coherence, and differentiation to drive competitive advantage?
Did the work this week meet the standard of quality and distinctiveness we expect?
Where did I need to push for better thinking, sharper execution, or a more refined experience?
How do we refine our approach next week to raise the bar even further?
Why this matters: Good isn‘t good enough. I don‘t want us just shipping — I want us shipping differentiated, high-quality work that moves the business forward.
3. Am I maximizing my leadership leverage to accelerate progress?
Where did I step in to create clarity, alignment, or unblock execution?
Am I operating at the right level — balancing strategic oversight with hands-on intervention where needed?
What adjustments should I make next week to amplify my impact?
Why this matters: If I‘m in the weeds too much, I‘m slowing us down. If I‘m too high up, I might be missing critical details. This keeps me calibrated.
4. Is my team stepping up and growing into the leaders we need?
Who stepped up this week, and where do they need more challenge or support?
Where do I need to clarify expectations, reset the bar, or delegate differently?
What coaching or feedback should I prioritize next week?
Why this matters: Scaling impact means scaling leadership. If I‘m the only one driving quality and clarity, we‘ll never reach our potential. This ensures I‘m investing in leadership at every level.
5. Am I making space for deep work and strategic thinking?
Did I carve out time for the thinking, reviewing, and decisions that only I can do?
Where did distractions, operational noise, or reactive tasks pull me off course?
What do I need to adjust next week to optimize my focus and effectiveness?
Why this matters: If I don‘t protect time for deep work, strategy suffers, decision-making suffers, and quality suffers. This keeps me accountable for owning the work only I can do.
6. Am I shaping influence and positioning design‘s impact in the business?
Where did I drive executive alignment and influence key decisions?
Is design being recognized as a strategic driver of business outcomes?
What conversations or strategic moments do I need to prepare for next week?
Why this matters: It‘s not enough to do great work — people have to see it, understand it, and connect it to business impact. This keeps me focused on positioning design as a core driver of company success.
How to Use This Framework
This isn‘t about journaling for the sake of it. It‘s a recalibration system. Here‘s how I use it:
Set aside time every week. I do this at the end of the week when I can step back and assess holistically.
Write down responses. Getting thoughts on paper makes patterns clear.
Turn insights into action. If I‘m getting pulled too deep into execution, I realign. If quality is slipping, I intervene. If my team isn‘t stepping up, I coach.
Use it as a leadership accountability check. This isn‘t just about execution — it‘s about ensuring I‘m operating at the right level to drive impact at scale.
The Value of This Practice
Since refining this approach, I‘ve found that it forces clarity every single week.
It keeps me focused on outcomes, not just activity.
It ensures we‘re raising the bar on quality and differentiation.
It pushes my team to step up and lead at the right level.
It protects time for deep work and high-impact thinking.
It keeps design positioned as a strategic force in the business.
Too often, leaders get trapped in reactive execution: fighting fires, sitting in meetings, moving fast but not necessarily moving forward. This system forces me to stop, assess, and adjust so I know, without a doubt, that I‘m driving real progress.
Because leadership isn‘t about checking boxes. It‘s about delivering results, every single week.
Now, Your Turn:
Take a look at your week. Did you move the needle? Or did you just stay busy?
If you‘re not sure, this framework might help.
This is fantastic. I’m similar - reflect every week but not always writing my reflections down and in a concrete enough framework. Will be borrowing this, thanks for sharing Rachael
Thank you Rachel! I love reflective leadership <3